Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Simple Pleasures of Wood Cookstove Baking

I have made a startling discovery.  I can only bake effectively in a wood cookstove.  I don't know when it happened - it just crept up on me.  One day I was turning out lovely loaves from my propane cooker and the next, I couldn't bake a perfect loaf of bread for the life of me.  In desperation, I slid a loaf of Irish Soda Bread into the wood cookstove, gave it a turn every once in a while, shuffled it from shelf to shelf and finally pulled it from the oven looking darkly golden and producing the most satisfyingly hollow thump when lightly tapped on the bottom.  Perfection!  A few days later I made French bread and pulled pasty looking loaves from the propane stove (that were very dark on the bottom) and proceeded to continue baking them in my beloved wood cookstove, where they turned a golden brown and developed the most flavorful, chewy crust imaginable.

Irish Soda Bread
In my defense, my propane stove is more than a little dodgy.  It doesn't have a working temperature gauge, so I have to turn the oven off and on, off and on, in order to attempt to regulate the oven temperature manually.  My propane frustration has yielded a blessing however - I have turned to my wood cookstove almost exclusively for baking and cooking, making me ever more proficient.  Now that is something to celebrate!  And food really does taste better when baked in a wood cookstove - go figure!

Bread isn't the only thing my wood cookstove has been producing in abundance.  Last week my older children got a party together to go skating at the "local" skating rink (about 45 minutes away).  Maid Elizabeth and Miss Serenity both had to work, getting off at 5 p.m., so they met their friends here (at Little Shouse on the Prairie) to carpool together to the skating rink.  Knowing that they would be missing dinner and wouldn't want to infringe on their skate time by grabbing a bite to eat in town, I made a big batch of Pizza Pockets that they could eat on the road.  I made my regular pizza crust recipe, rolled out the dough and cut small (3"x3" more or less) squares to use as the pizza pockets.  I spread a bit of olive oil on each square, followed by a bit of pizza sauce, sprinkled them with mozzarella cheese and bacon bits and layered a few pieces of pepperoni followed by just a little bit more cheese.  Then I pulled corners together and pinched them close, sprinkling a little of mozzarella on top of each pocket.  I baked them on pizza stones until they were golden and bubbly.

Beginning Pizza Pockets

Pinching the corners

Ready for the oven

Fresh from the wood cookstove
I sent a laughing, giggling truck-full of kids to a skating party with a basket filled to the brim with pizza pockets, German Chocolate cookies and bottles full of water - a veritable rolling dinner party.  The children came home late, sporting head-to-toe bruises and regaled us with exuberantly delivered stories of their skating adventures.  Their dinner on-the-go had been a huge success and they appreciated not having to spend their hard-earned money on not-so-great fast food.

As winter continues to grip us in its cold embrace, Sir Knight and I have begun to look forward to the warming ritual of afternoon tea with even more anticipation than usual.  Yesterday, in celebration of Monday Tea (I just made that up!) I made a little something to accompany our tea and was rewarded with a heavenly aroma wafting from the wood cookstove, filling our Shouse with sweet, spicy goodness.  Pumpkin Maple muffins are the perfect combination of winter flavors and only enhanced when accompanied by a good, stout cup of English Breakfast tea (yes, even in the afternoon!).  Generally, I would bake these in a standard muffin tin, however, Maid Elizabeth brought home a commercial "muffin top" pan for me years ago and I thought it would work perfectly for these soft, flavorful, sweet breads.  The muffins are made with mostly whole wheat flour but still rise high and soft, with no graininess of texture.  You can make them with or without the glaze, whatever your preference.  I think they would last for days and remain moist (the pumpkin), however, they never last past tea here!

Pumpkin Maple Muffins
2 C whole wheat flour
1 1/2 C all purpose flour (can use all whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C sugar
2 C pumpkin puree (or any other squash)
1/2 C olive oil (or any other oil)
1/4 C maple syrup (real or corn syrup based)
3 T milk
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine the sugar, pumpkin, olive oil, maple syrup, milk and egg.  Beat to combine.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Stir just to combine.

Fill greased muffin tins almost to the top and bake for 20 minutes or until tops are puffy and spring back when you touch them.  Turn out of pan and cool before glazing.

Maple Glaze
2 T butter
1 1/4 C powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 T maple syrup (real or corn syrup based)
1 - 2 T hot water

Melt the butter in saucepan.   Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.  Stir in the maple syrup.  Mixture will be thick and sticky.  Add water and beat until spreading/pouring consistency.  Spread/pour over muffin tops.

Pumpkin Maple Muffins in Muffin Top pan

Light and Fluffy (and whole wheat!)

Cooling with Maple Glaze

If you haven't had the pleasure of baking with wood - it's never too late!  It is simple and complicated all at once and entirely satisfying.  It truly is an experience not to miss.


  1. Interesting ... I have a friend who cooks solely on her wood cook stove. Well, except when they grill outside. She has said she's cooked with wood so long, she doesn't think she could cook using gas or electric anymore. Your tea time always sounds so warm and inviting. Hearing about the kids' skating reminds me when we used to go skating many moons ago. Thank you so much for sharing.

  2. Enola,

    The place were staying is a rental home, we have no wood stove to heat or cook. On our next move were hoping to find a place with a wood stove, or the ability to install one. Lovely post on baking!

  3. i spent a year learning to cook and bake on a huge iron wood cookstove under the tutelage of my grandma...it was the best year of my life as a teenager. we lived in a two room schoolhouse that was heated by the wood cookstove and two big potbelly stoves. we had two six holer outhouses out back-one for boys and one for girls. i have found over the years and although i cook now on a propane gas stove, cooking on a wood cookstove is a little like riding a bike..you really never forget how to do it.. :)

  4. Nana cooked on a wood stove and knew food was ready by smell :)

    1. I season a lot of food by smell. Since the amount of some varies from batch (apple sizes in pies, bread in dressing, etc), it is the most reliable way.

  5. Nana cooked on a wood stove and judged her food ready by its smell.

  6. Feel free to post that Irish Soda Bread recipe! :-)

    1. I did! If you click on the highlighted word "Irish soda bread" in the text of the post it will take you directly to the recipe. Same goes for the pizza crust and the cookies.

    2. OUTSTANDING!! Hmmm...I wonder how this would turn out with half rye flour and some caraway seeds......

  7. Lovely post as usual. Like many, I think the muffin top offers the most pleasure over the rest of it. Your pizza pockets look amazing. I am hungry just looking at them. And greatly admire you going to that homemade effort as well as 1 1/2 hours of driving to make sure your daughter had that important evening out that all teenagers need,

  8. Enola, this has nothing to do with this blog post, but I don't see an email for you. I was talking with my husband, about this subject, and thought of you as I said it. Since you homeschool, do you know about Coursera? These are MOOCs (massive open online courses) on every subject you can imagine, free, from top universities all over the world. They range from 6-14 weeks long, short video lessons for lectures, reading assignments, homework, quizzes, etc. You can do as little or as much as you desire. I tend to watch the videos, do some homework, as much reading as I can, and occasional tests. If you do everything within the timeframe given (varies by course), then you get a certificate of completion. It's a great way to add interesting stuff to your homeschooling (there are a lot of homeschooled kids that post on the forums. The web address is: www.coursera.org.
    Thought you might be interested in looking into this.

  9. Long time no post, dear. I'm not complaining by any stretch of the imagination, just a wee mite concerned. Perhaps I have no right to be-- I'm just some woman on the Internet-- but I hope that the worst that has happened is that the electric has gone down for a while.

    Be well.

  10. Enola - I just came back from my first little R&R vacation with my DH in years (grandparents babysat) and am too hoping all is well with you. We are up to our ears in snow and this post is so cozy. It is so lovely. My grandmother cooked in a wood stove with peat and I absolutely loved her brown bread slathered in highly salted butter! But I also note you haven't posted in a while. Hope that you are just too busy making beautiful memories with your family and that nothing is amiss. As always, hugs and prayers for everyone in your shouse.

  11. We miss you. Pray all is well.
    Montana Guy and Montana Gal

  12. Husband and I are going "off grid" and looking into a wood cookstove for our very small cabin (500 sq ft). We are considering the Bakers Bun Oven since we want something that can heat and cook and suited for a small place.

    Are there any books you recommend to help up as we dive into using a wood cook stove? Or should we just sink or swim? Thanks.

  13. Yes, yes, we too have been cooking and baking on the wood cook stove and becoming quite proficient. It is a true joy to now own the skill. All thanks to you, my dear teacher!